Hutton Inquiry

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 23 February (WA 2), which part of the Prime Minister's statement to the House of Commons on 28 January makes clear the reason why he decided to establish the Hutton inquiry; and whether the reason was to secure the withdrawal of an accusation against the Prime Minister.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The terms of reference for Lord Hutton's Inquiry were: "urgently to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly". However, as the Prime Minister said in his Statement to the other place on 28 January (Official Report col. 337), it was also right to establish such an inquiry, as allegations had been made that went to the heart of the integrity of government, of our intelligence services and of the PM personally.

Katharine Gun

Lord Alexander of Weedon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	For what reasons they considered that the defence of "necessity" in the Katharine Gun case was sufficiently strong to lead them to abandon the prosecution.

Lord Goldsmith: The decision to offer no evidence against Katharine Gun was made by the Crown Prosecution Service as an independent prosecuting authority. It was a decision taken solely on legal grounds and in accordance with the code for Crown Prosecutors. There was, in this case, a clear prima facie breach of Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1989. However, Senior Treasury Counsel prosecuting this case gave advice, with which the Director of Public Prosecutions fully concurred, that there was no longer a realistic prospect of convicting Katharine Gun. The evidential deficiency related to the prosecution's inability, within the current statutory framework, to disprove the defence of necessity to be raised on the particular facts of this case.

Government Offices for the Regions: Websites

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will ensure that the websites of the Government Offices for the Regions have a common look and feel.

Lord Rooker: Government Offices for the Regions are exploring the issues of common look, feel, standard content and resilience, using the Office of the E-Envoy preferred standards and technologies for web publishing and hosting.
	A project to deliver common standards could begin later this year.

National Smartcard Project

The Earl of Erroll: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether funding will be available to continue the work of the Local Authority Smartcard Services e-Organisation currently working as the Standards Work Package of the National Smartcard project in support of the e-GIF and other national and international standards, when the current funding ends on 31 March 2004.

Lord Rooker: The standards work in the National Smartcard project, and all the national projects, will ultimately be carried forward by the Local e-government Standards Body, a new body created to ensure that all the standards emerging for local e-government are sustained and developed. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently defining the funding mechanism and processes to ensure that there is a smooth transition between the work of the project and the standards body.

Sustainable Communities Plan: Cost of Associated Publications

Lord Greaves: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many copies have been produced of the report Making it Happen: The Northern Way together with the associated publications, Creating sustainable communities: making it happen for the North East, South East, East Midlands, West Midlands, South West, London, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber and East of England; what is the cost of (a) compiling, writing and editing and (b) printing and distributing these publications; to whom have these publications been circulated; and through which outlets they are available to interested members of the public and organisations.

Lord Rooker: The compilation, writing and editing of Making it Happen: The Northern Way was carried out in the normal course of business, across the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and other government departments. It is therefore not possible to separate out these costs.
	Due to high demand, the document and accompanying regional annexes are in their third reprint. Design, typesetting, printing and distribution costs total £64,379.
	Copies of the statement were distributed to a range of stakeholders identified as having an interest in the Sustainable Communities Plan or as key to its delivery, and to all Members of Parliament.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also sent out copies on request. Additional copies are available at:
	ODPM Free Literature
	PO Box 236
	Wetherby
	West Yorkshire
	LS23 7NB
	Tel: 0870 1226 236
	Fax: 0870 1226 237
	Textphone: 0870 1207 405
	email: odpm@twoten.press.net
	Since the publication date, the Statement and accompanying regional annexes have been available on the website of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister at: www.odpm.gov.uk/thenorthernway.

Homeless People: Government Grants for London

Lord Fearn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What financial help in the form of government grants has been given to London-based hostels or shelters for the homeless in the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 to date.

Lord Rooker: The following table gives details of funding provided by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to voluntary organisations towards the provision of London hostels and rolling shelters for homeless people in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
	
		
			 Financial year Total funding for the year 
			 April—March 2001–02 £12,991,788 
			  
			 April—March 2002–03 £9,395,719 
			  
			 April—March 2003–04 £6,500,140 
			  
			 April—March 2004–05 £1,259,785 
		
	
	NB 2001–02 and 2002–03 are actuals
	and 2003–04 and 2004–05 expected outturns
	Over the four-year period there has been a reduction in direct commissioning by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of services to tackle rough sleeping. Resources have been transferred to local authorities to commission services themselves as part of the development and implementation of local homelessness strategies.
	The Supporting People funding of £1.8 billion in 2003–04 was allocated to administering authorities who have responsibility for commissioning services and allocating funding to service providers locally.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister breakdowns of the Supporting People funding are by individual authorities, not by client groups or types of services.
	The Department of Health also awards grants to various homeless voluntary organisations of which the amount of funding provided is based on national projects. However, it is not possible to identify what proportion of the grant goes into London based projects.

Freedom of Information Act: Fees Regulations

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will consult the public before making fees regulations under Sections 9, 12 and 13 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Lord Filkin: The Government are presently engaging in consultation on the fees regulations through a government working group. We published a draft set of fees regulations in 2000. The working group is considering the underlying policy on the fees regime with a view to revising and expanding on the draft regulations. Departmental representatives on the cross Whitehall Freedom of Information Practitioners' Group will seek out and represent the views of those to be affected by the fees regime. In addition, it is the role, at least in part, of the independent members of the working group to represent the views of those using the FoI Act from outside the public sector. A copy of the draft regulations is available on my department's website and anyone is invited to provide comments on the fees regime to my department. The Government will take into account all comments received in reaching a final decision on the regulations. The regulations will be laid before Parliament, where they are subject to the negative resolution procedure, in time for coming into force on 1 January 2005.

Playing Fields Monitoring Group

Lord Pendry: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the Playing Fields Monitoring Group first met; how many times it has met; and when it is next due to meet.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Playing Fields Monitoring Group was set up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in April 2000, and has met 11 times. The department will liaise with the other members of the monitoring group to arrange an early date for the next meeting.

Smoking in Public Places

Lord Chadlington: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What plans they have to ban smoking in public places.

Lord Warner: The Government have no plans to ban smoking in public places. We have consistently said that smoke-free public places are the ideal. We do not think a universal ban on smoking in all public places is justified while we can make fast and substantial progress in partnership with industry. Over the years we have seen real increases in smoke-free workplaces. In 1996, 40 per cent of people reported their workplace as being completely smoke-free. The latest figures for 2002 show this has risen to 50 per cent, with an overall figure of 86 per cent of all workplaces having banned smoking completely or limited it to smoking rooms. We look forward to faster and more substantial progress from employers and businesses.

Food Supplements: European Food Safety Authority

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of the remarks of the executive director of the European Food Safety Authority, at the Westminster Diet and Health Forum on 4 February, that the authority is able to undertake tasks referred to it by member states; and whether they will seek a review of the 200 or more nutrients currently on the market in the United Kingdom but omitted from the lists of permitted ingredients set out in the Food Supplements Directive.

Lord Warner: In this speech on 4 February, the executive director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) referred to the fact that the European Parliament and member states, as well as the European Commission, may request EFSA to issue a scientific opinion on matters falling within its mission. In doing so he was referring to the provision set out in Article 29(1) of Regulation 178/2002/EC.
	The Government do not intend to seek a review of the nutrient sources used in products on the United Kingdom market but not included in the list of permitted ingredients set out in the Food Supplements Directive. Substances already on the lists in the annexes have been assessed for safety by the former Scientific Committee on Food. Transitional procedures for amending the lists are set out in Article 4(6) of the directive. General procedures for adding substances to the lists are set out in recitals 10 and 12 and in Article 4(5) of the directive. Additional substances may be put on the lists following assessment of dossiers of information supporting their safety by EFSA. We understand that the food supplements industry is already preparing a number of such dossiers.

Speech and Language Therapists:Pay and Grading

Baroness Michie of Gallanach: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What consideration they have given to the 2000 Equal Value case between speech and language therapists and clinical psychologists, and to the loss of comparability between those professions under Agenda for Change; and
	Whether the job profiles for speech and language therapists will be reviewed if the outcome at early implementer sites confirms the loss of comparability between speech and language therapists and clinical psychologists.

Lord Warner: The speech and language therapists' pay and grade structure introduced in 2000 recognised the need to review the arrangements in the light of the proposed new National Health Service pay system. Under Agenda for Change basic pay will be based on a job evaluation framework developed in partnership with the NHS trade unions to ensure fairness and consistency.
	The applicability of all nationally agreed job profiles is being tested as part of the early implementer stage.

Speech and Language Therapists:Pay and Grading

Baroness Michie of Gallanach: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have made any projection of the impact on the National Standards Framework for Older People, especially with regard to stroke care, if Agenda for Change results in a significant number of speech and language therapists leaving the National Health Service; and
	Whether they have made any projection of the impact of Agenda for Change on the provision of speech and language therapy services in rural areas, given that experienced generalist therapists providing these services will be excluded from higher salary levels.

Lord Warner: Agenda for Change has been developed in partnership with National Health Service staff organisations to deliver to NHS staff a fair and flexible employment framework that supports career development and offers greater rewards for those who take on extended roles. The new system includes flexibility for NHS employers to apply recruitment and retention premia where necessary on top of basic pay. We do not expect the new system to have any adverse impact on delivering either the national service framework for older people or services in rural areas. Our information suggests that there will be 100 per cent compliance with the national service framework for older people 2004 milestone.

NHS: Agenda for Change Implementation

Baroness Michie of Gallanach: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Given that the implementation of Agenda for Change at early implementer sites is still incomplete, how the outcome will be evaluated by the planned national roll-out date of 1 October.

Lord Warner: National Health Service employer representatives, the four United Kingdom health departments and the NHS trade unions have already begun a review of the emerging evidence from the 12 early implementer sites.
	We have always envisaged that the review would not be completed until the summer of 2004.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Treatment Trials

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 26 February (WA 76), why the entry criteria for the two PACE trials have not been finalised when the criteria have been specified on the Medical Research Council website as "Oxford criteria"; whether these criteria are to be used for the PACE trials; and whether there are alternatives; and
	Whether the contracts for the two PACE trials have been awarded; and, if so, to whom; and what are the start and completion dates for each of the trials.

Lord Warner: The Medical Research Council announced funding in May 2003 for two trials which will look at the effectiveness of various treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). The first trial is known as PACE (Pacing, Activity and Cognitive behaviour therapy: a randomised Evaluation). PACE will be led by Dr Peter White at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, Dr Michael Sharpe of the University of Edinburgh and Dr Trudie Chalder of King's College London.
	The second trial, known as FINE (Fatigue Intervention by Nurses Evaluation) will test two different treatments that are particularly suited to those who are too ill to attend a specialist clinic. FINE will be headed by Dr Alison Wearden at the University of Manchester.
	Once an application for funding has been approved, preparations need to take place. These include discussions of practical arrangements with the trial centres, recruitment and training of the staff needed to run trials, and obtaining final approval of the trial protocol by ethics committees. The current estimated start of recruitment of patients into both trials is the summer or autumn of 2004. They are expected to take up to five years to complete.
	Entry criteria were originally proposed in the applications for funding. Final confirmation of the criteria by the multicentre research ethics committee is expected by May 2004. Unconfirmed criteria for both trials are that participants will: meet the Oxford diagnostic criteria for CFS; score four or more on the eleven-item Chalder fatigue scale; score less than 75 per cent on the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36) physical functioning scale. Both trials will also collect and compare data relating to other internationally accepted diagnostic criteria.
	All participants will provide informed consent, will be of either gender, and will be aged at least 18 years old. For PACE, participants will be attending one of six specialist CFS services in the United Kingdom. Participants in FINE will be in primary care and the trial is expected to involve severely affected patients, including those who are bed or house-bound and who may not be able to take part in other treatments that require hospital or clinic attendance.

Rural Delivery Review

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will respond to the review of the Rural White Paper released on 19 January 2004.

Lord Whitty: On 4 November the Secretary of State for Defra made a commitment to produce a Refreshed Rural Strategy later this spring. The strategy will encompass a response to the White Paper review, coupled with details of modernisation of rural delivery and respond to the reports emerging from the work of the Centre for Rural Research led by Birkbeck College.

Rural Delivery Review

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the new integrated agency bringing together aspects of English Nature, the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service will be housed together; and to whom they will report.

Lord Whitty: In her statement of 11 November 2003 on the Rural Delivery Review, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs accepted the recommendations by Lord Haskins to bring together elements of the work done by English Nature, the Countryside Agency and Defra's Rural Development Service into an integrated agency. She has recently announced that this new agency will be established as an executive non-departmental public body. As with other non-departmental public bodies, the Secretary of State will be accountable to Parliament for the effectiveness and efficiency of the integrated agency. She will appoint the members of its board.

EU Business Regulation: Better Regulation Task Force Report

Lord Freeman: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they expect the Better Regulation Task Force to publish its report on whether the European Commission is doing enough to reduce unnecessary business regulation.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Better Regulation Task Force is carrying out a project on the simplification of an area of EU legislation. It expects to report later this year.